A: My older brothers got me into film. They would introduce me to films and we would binge on films. It was the way we bonded. My favorite film they introduced me to was Clerks. We watched that together like 40 or 50 times and were like “we need to be making films”.

Q: What inspired you to start the festival?

A: I wanted to give people a chance to attend a film festival without the lines, without the lotteries in hopes to see the movie they want. Fan Boy Film Festival takes out the headaches from film festivals and lets you enjoy the films in the comfort of your home. I also wanted to create a platform where artists (filmmakers) – I refer to them as artists because I think every filmmaker is creating art – can share their work without having to deal with the traditional Hollywood B.S.

Q: How can one enter the festival?

A: All you need to do is go to www.fanboyfilmfestival.com create an account and upload your film. There are no submission fees. There are no viewing fees either for fans.

Q: What makes your festival unique?

A: Anyone can attend or submit at the comfort of your home. It’s not the usual elitist film festival. Our vision is to create an all inclusive online community where fans and artists can connect and create a community.

Q: How did you obtain funding for the prizes?

A: We have some generous sponsors who share in our vision.

Q: How will you avoid this becoming a popularity contest?

A: We hope so. We don’t believe in stuffy judge panels or secret dark room meetings by “Hollywood veterans” who decide on the merit of a film. Ultimately, we believe that it’s the fans who should judge a film. That’s why the winners are decided 100% on votes by registered Fan Boy users.

Q: You are giving away a prize for the best meme. There are a lot of memes out there. How will you be able to determine if a meme is someone’s original work?

A: We will be using Google images to determine if something is original. We are able to do a reverse image search and see if that meme is already out there.

Q: What are some common mistakes you see first time filmmakers make?

A: Mainly poor editing and lighting. Also, first time filmmakers don’t understand the business side of making a film. Great you have a film- now what… Most first time filmmakers get screwed over by taking bad distribution deals because they just don’t understand the business.

Q: What do you love about the pop culture?

A: I love everything about pop culture. Pop Culture is what defines us right now in our society. Whatever is popular right now is an indication as to where we are as a civilization. People will hate me for saying this – but the Kardashians are a cornerstone of popular culture at the moment. Good or bad – whatever your opinion, that is part of what defines us at the moment.

Q: What kinds of day job do you have and how does it affect your ability to run the festival?

A: I’m the marketing manager for an office supply company in Manhattan. So, I don’t have time to manage the site during the hours of 9-5 M-F, but we have a good team that manages the festival when I can’t. I hope to come on full time in the future and expand our staff.

Please note; Eliza’s interviews are done by email. All answers are unedited and come right from the lovely fingertips of her subjects.